Rockingham County sheriff to show movie on illegal immigration

By McClatchy News Service

Published: Monday, October 8, 2012 at 09:35 AM.

Efforts to get a comment from the director, Dennis Lynch, about the movie were unsuccessful.

In a video recorded during an immigration forum two months ago in Wilmington, Lynch had this to say about illegal immigration: “There's not just people coming over who want to cut your lawn. There are people who are coming over who want to cut your throat.”

Moises Serrano, an immigrant activist who was raised mostly in Yadkin County but does not have authorization to be in the U.S., said that such quotes make him skeptical that the movie takes an evenhanded approach to the issues – and he plans to attend the showing.

Planning to join Serrano are members and supporters of the advocacy group, El Cambio, which was started in Yadkin County and also has members in Surry County as well as Winston-Salem and Greensboro.

“Our purpose is to really be the watchdog for our community,” Serrano said. “We want to make sure that our families are not being painted as criminals, and we will take any actions necessary to dispel the myths, such as that we don't pay taxes.”

WENTWORTH -- Sam Page, the Rockingham County sheriff who has been an advocate of tighter security along the border between the United States and Mexico, plans to host a viewing Monday of “They Come to America,” a documentary about illegal immigration.

The goal, Page said, is to motivate people to lobby members of Congress to do something about illegal immigration. Asked what he thinks should be done, Page said he supports comprehensive immigration reform – legislation that would deal with the estimated 11 million to 14 million noncitizens in the United States without authorization.

Mass deportations, Page said, would not be an effective way to deal with the issue.

“In the U.S., you can't just deport 14 million people. There is going to have to be some type of fix for the long term. ... When are we in America going to fix our immigration policy?” Page said. “It is my hope and wish that people will call Congress and ask them to fix this issue for the long term.”

Among those who have been invited to the showing are Sens. Kay Hagan, a Democrat, and Richard Burr, a Republican, as well as U.S. Rep. Howard Coble, R-6th, and state Sen. President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, a Republican.

The viewing will be held at the theater on the Rockingham County Community College campus, officials said, at 215 Wrenn Memorial Road in Wentworth. The doors will open at 6 p.m. and the movie will start at 6:30 p.m. The theater holds 300 people.

The documentary, according to Kevin Suthard, a spokesman for the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office, deals with both sides of the immigration issue. It highlights crime but it also tells the story of an immigrant and why he entered the U.S. illegally, he said.

Efforts to get a comment from the director, Dennis Lynch, about the movie were unsuccessful.

In a video recorded during an immigration forum two months ago in Wilmington, Lynch had this to say about illegal immigration: “There's not just people coming over who want to cut your lawn. There are people who are coming over who want to cut your throat.”

Moises Serrano, an immigrant activist who was raised mostly in Yadkin County but does not have authorization to be in the U.S., said that such quotes make him skeptical that the movie takes an evenhanded approach to the issues – and he plans to attend the showing.

Planning to join Serrano are members and supporters of the advocacy group, El Cambio, which was started in Yadkin County and also has members in Surry County as well as Winston-Salem and Greensboro.

“Our purpose is to really be the watchdog for our community,” Serrano said. “We want to make sure that our families are not being painted as criminals, and we will take any actions necessary to dispel the myths, such as that we don't pay taxes.”